(NewsNation) — The Federal Aviation Administration expects an estimated 271 million Americans will fly between June 1 and August 31 as summer travel abroad becomes increasingly popular.

Rena Bitter, the assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, joined “NewsNation Now” to discuss summer travel safety for Americans flying out of the country.

“One of the things that’s really interesting about this year is that more Americans than ever before have passports, which means that more Americans than ever before are able to travel overseas. And that is a really good thing, both for them and also for our country,” Bitter said.

Memorial Day weekend, which marks the unofficial start to the summer, will start the summer travel surge. The FAA forecasts this year’s Memorial Day weekend to be the busiest since 2010, with an estimated 53,515 flights the Thursday before Memorial Day.

As Americans take to the skies on the way to overseas destinations, Bitter recommends keeping an eye on the State Department website for travel alerts.

“One of the things I do want to highlight is what information that the State Department puts out, to help Americans understand about as much information as possible about the destination that they’re traveling to, so that they can make informed decisions about their own safety and security, which means that they can have a fun and trouble-free holiday,” Bitter said.